SEPANG, Feb 17 — Customs officers have arrested a woman from South Africa at the KL International Airport and foiled an attempt to smuggle into the country 3.11kg of cocaine valued at RM622,000 in chocolate tins.

KLIA Customs director Datuk Chik Omar Chik Lim said today the 28-year-old woman was held after she flew in from Dubai on Sunday and was waiting to board a flight to Kota Baru.

The woman, suspected to be a drug mule, had the drugs in four of nine chocolate tins in her cabin luggage, he told a press conference at the KLIA Customs Complex here.

“A scan of the luggage showed suspicious-looking objects,” he said, adding that an inspection revealed 166 packets of cocaine wrapped like chocolate.

The four tins containing the cocaine had been placed below the five containing chocolate, he added.

Chik Omar said the woman, who was unemployed, was on her maiden visit to Malaysia.

“She claimed she going on a holiday in Kota Baru but we suspect she wanted to hand over the cocaine to a drug trafficking syndicate there,” he said.

He said the woman had been remanded for seven days for investigation under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act. The legislation provides for the death sentence upon conviction.

“The arrest and seizure was the outcome of intelligence and monitoring work and sharing of information with authorities in other countries,” he said.

Chik Omar said that last year, Customs officers at KLIA arrested 20 people in association with the smuggling of drugs weighing a total of 120.471kg valued at RM22.3 million. — Bernama